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2nd out of 55 books
—
26 voters
Hershel and the Hanukkah Goblins
A traveler rids a village synagogue of goblins. A Caldecott Honor Book.
Paperback, 30 pages
Published
October 1st 1994
by Holiday House
(first published 1989)
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Nov 24, 2010
Abigail
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
Readers Looking for Engaging Hanukkah Tales / Trina Schart Hyman Fans
Review Temporarily Removed.
I love Jewish folktales! This is a classic "outwitting the bad guys" story, illustrated by my favorite, Trina Schart Hyman. Love it!
Hershel and the Hanukkah Goblins, by Eric Kimmel, is one of my all time favorite children book. It is told in 3rd person point of view, and it has a lexile of 400 so it is for upper elementary aged students. The main characters of this book are Hershel, and the 8 Hanukkah goblins. The setting of this book is in a synagogue on top of a hill in a little Jewish town. The plot of this story is that Hershel is passing thought a Jewish town on Hanukkah eve and he asks the villagers why there aren't an...more
This is my very favorite Hanukkah book. This year I borrowed it from the library a bit late. I am also currently reading a collection of Light-themed stories from around the world for Winter Solstice, and I was pleased at how well this fits in. In The Return of the Light, many of the stories feature tricksters who steal the Light. In Hershel and the Hanukkah Goblins, Hershel is a trickster who keeps the Light.
When Hershel of Ostropol arrives at a village on the first night of Hanukkah, no one is...more
When Hershel of Ostropol arrives at a village on the first night of Hanukkah, no one is...more
“Isn’t tonight the first night of Hanukkah?” Hershel asked the villagers. “We don’t have Hanukkah, Hershel,” one of them answered sadly. “No Hanukkah? How can that be?”
“It’s because of the goblins. They haunt the old synagogue at the top of the hill. They hate Hanukkah. Whenever we try to light a menorah, the goblins blow out the candles. They break our dreidels. They throw our potato latkes on the floor. Those wicked goblins make our lives miserable all year long, but on Hanukkah it’s really...more
“It’s because of the goblins. They haunt the old synagogue at the top of the hill. They hate Hanukkah. Whenever we try to light a menorah, the goblins blow out the candles. They break our dreidels. They throw our potato latkes on the floor. Those wicked goblins make our lives miserable all year long, but on Hanukkah it’s really...more
In this holiday tale, Herschel discovers that goblins are haunting the synagogue which prevents the villagers from celebrating Hannukah. Herschel volunteers to help rid the synagogue of the haunts by outwitting them, and succeeds at tricking 8 goblins, but on the seventh night, the Goblin King arrives to wish Herschel a "Happy Hannukah." He is powerful and frightening but Herschel is able to trick him into lighting the shammes candle and... Well,you'll have to read what happens for yourself.
The...more
The...more
Aug 03, 2012
Oleg Kagan
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
judaism,
small-town
Patrick from Jones Coffee Roasters at the ground-level of the library told me I must read this and so I have.
Hershel and the Hanukkah Goblins is another of Eric Kimmel's Jewish-themed books for preschool-1st graders, this one with the sharp realistic illustrations of Trina Schart Hyman (the author and illustrator of many a worthwhile book). The story is simple, Hershel of Ostropol, in passing a village, volunteers to rid the synagogue of goblins which are preventing the townspeople from celebra...more
Hershel and the Hanukkah Goblins is another of Eric Kimmel's Jewish-themed books for preschool-1st graders, this one with the sharp realistic illustrations of Trina Schart Hyman (the author and illustrator of many a worthwhile book). The story is simple, Hershel of Ostropol, in passing a village, volunteers to rid the synagogue of goblins which are preventing the townspeople from celebra...more
The art and the strong story make this one of the best Hanukkah books both for kids not of the Jewish faith and for those who are. A village is terrorized by a group of goblin bullies, who have taken over the old synagogue on the hill and are preventing the people from celebrating Hanukkah. A traveler named Hershel comes along and offers to help. How he outwits the goblins, even in the face of his own fears, is an entertaining and clever tale. The Trina Schart Hyman art is magical. Be warned tho...more
GLE 3.2
400L
Genre: Traditional Literature- Folktale
This is one of my favorite stories. It is about a Jewish man, Hershal, who travels to a town in which Goblins prevent the townspeople from celebrating Hanukkah. Hershal decides he will break the spell that the Goblins have put on the town that prevents them from celebrating. To do so he must spend the eight days of Hanukkah in the haunted old temple on the hill. Each night a different Goblin comes to stop Hershal from celebrating Hanukkah, each...more
400L
Genre: Traditional Literature- Folktale
This is one of my favorite stories. It is about a Jewish man, Hershal, who travels to a town in which Goblins prevent the townspeople from celebrating Hanukkah. Hershal decides he will break the spell that the Goblins have put on the town that prevents them from celebrating. To do so he must spend the eight days of Hanukkah in the haunted old temple on the hill. Each night a different Goblin comes to stop Hershal from celebrating Hanukkah, each...more
Okay, so Frank spied this one on the library shelf, and declared that he wanted a monster book. Without looking at it, I said sure, and we checked out our books and left. When we got home, I realized it was a Hanukkah book, which I don't have a specific problem with, I was just afraid Frank would be utterly confused, being that he is four and not Jewish. It turned out to be okay. He might not have understood any of the significances of the candles, or other Jewish references, but the overall sto...more
Trina Schart Hyman is among my top five favorite illustrators of all time. And if you pressed me to narrow it down further I might even say she was my favorite. That is why I've been eagerly anticipating this book for quite some time. And while I didn't find the illustrations here to be as strong as say Little Red Riding Hood or Saint George and the Dragon (those are jaw dropping perfect though and hard to top) this book still confirmed for me that Hyman was one of the best illustrators of all t...more
I had never heard of this story before. I found out it was a 1990 Caldecott Honor book, so I picked up a copy. It was a bit too long for my son, but I read it to him anyways. According to this website (http://www.rambles.net/kimmel_hershel...), "Eric Kimmel uses the Yiddish folk trickster character Hershel of Ostropol (Hershel Ostropolier) to tell his story."
In the book, Hershel happens upon a village who is not allowed to celebrate Hanukkah because of the goblins that infest the old synagogue...more
In the book, Hershel happens upon a village who is not allowed to celebrate Hanukkah because of the goblins that infest the old synagogue...more
I love this book. My mom used to get it out of the library for her day care kids when I was in high school and I would always read it. I got it out of the library last year when my oldest son was old enough to enjoy picture books. He didn't love it last year, but this year he was full of questions when we read it. It doesn't tell the history of Hanukkah - get a different book for that - but it engages kids in a particular story of a traveler who visits a village and saves Hanukkah for everyone.
Hershel, the main character was traveling one night and stops at a village where he expects to see a Hanukkah celebration, with a menorah, latkes, and such. He had no luck at all. The village was dark and silent. The villagers explain to Hershel that the synagogue in the village is haunted by goblins that hate Hanukkah, and do all they can to ruin it. Hershel and the villagers work together to save Hanukkah for the village. This is a fun book to teach children about Hanukkah.
This book is full of great vocabulary and amazing illustrations. Hershel's village is huanted by evil goblins who will not let them celebrate Hanukkah. Hershel tricks the goblins in different ways and they end up leaving him alone. Hershel defeats the King of the Goblins and their power is lost. The village can celebrate Hanukkah once again. The book also has a small history about Hanukkah in the back. This would be a great book to read around the holidays to elementary kids.
Dec 04, 2009
Dolly
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
parents reading with their children
This is an interesting folktale about Hanukkah, one that I'd never heard before. I was afraid that it would be a bit too scary for our girls, but they enjoyed the story and didn't seem to be affected by the slightly creepy illustrations of the scarier goblins. The first few were actually kind of cute. Overall, it's a fantastic story and an interesting way to tell about the Jewish holiday.
This is a children's book that is well written and informative with wonderful illustrations. It was recommended by a young Jewish friend who said it was his favorite holiday book when he was a child. I can see why he liked it. I read it to my grand-daughters and they enjoyed it and loved the illustrations. They also learned something about the celebration of Hanukkah (as did I!).
Along with this book being a great Jewish folk tale, it is the first time I have ever seen any reference to the town in which my grandfather grew up. I was going to love the book no matter what. Fortunately, it's a well-told story, a visual delight and a morality tale without being obvious. My kids still talk about it and we haven't read it since Hanukkah eight months ago.
This is a riveting tale of the village that couldn't celebrate Hannukah because of the goblins. One brave man goes to the top of a mountain to defeat the goblins and light all eight candles on the menorah by fooling them all! This was a very fun and interesting read. It also has some authentic Hannukah words incorporated into the story for children to learn about.
I marked this as scary-halloween for the scary part. There are goblins in it after all, but not really scary. Great book. Read it to 2 Catholic boys (I'm not Jewish either) but it was a great story to read with them and to explain a little bit about Jewish customs. Fun story concerning Hanukkah. Probably 1st grade- but possibly 2nd grade level.
Kids LOVE this even though it's dark in parts and a little bit foreign to my current population of primarily white and African-American Christians. But a good tale nonetheless...it gives them an introduction to a few Hanukkah concepts...I just hope they don't confuse fantasy with aspects of the rituals!
One of my all time favorite jewish folk tales, featuring one of my all time favorite jewish trickster heroes, Herschel of Ostropol! And illustrated by one of my all time favorite illustrators, and retold by one of my favorite retellers!! What's not to love? I reread this book every Hanukkah, and adore it.
This book is a little long but I liked the story. The goblins are really scary but I guess they are supposed to be. I love the twist at the end....and the King of the Goblins doesn't win. I don't love the artwork even though it was a Caldecott Honor. Fun book for the 5th Day of Hanukkah!
A Caldecott nominee, this book is really fun to read. The illustrations are engaging and the story is great. Basically, a poor Jewish peasant outwits a series of increasingly threatening goblins. Books like this are what helps make childrens literature so special.
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This is a neat Jewish folktale with neat illustrations. Hershal shows faith, courage, and cleverness in outwitting the goblins in this story. The goblin illustrations are fun, and make it an especially cute story to read between Halloween and Hanukkah. :)
Written years ago it still is one of the begged for books at the season of Hanukkah by the students. Plus, I love reading it aloud -- it's scary at a time when the season of scary is past, and even the first graders love this scary.
Dec 22, 2008
Cheryl
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
grades 2-5
Shelves:
folktales,
picture-books
Has kids wide eyed and listening. Has all the ingredients to please: bad guys who shapeshift, and our superhero Herschel, who prevails by his wit. A sure-fire hit for a holiday read-aloud. Best with props (menorah and dreidel).
GR Level: NA
NOT AVAILABLE
This is an interesting story about goblins that try to destroy Hanukkah and the man, Hershel, who stood up to them. True info in the back about why Hanukkah is celebrated. Good info.
NOT AVAILABLE
This is an interesting story about goblins that try to destroy Hanukkah and the man, Hershel, who stood up to them. True info in the back about why Hanukkah is celebrated. Good info.
Goblins haunt an old synagogue and prevent its village people from celebrating Hanukkah, until Hershel of Ostropol arrives and manages to outwit them. This entertaining and vividly illustrated book is real read-aloud favorite!
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Eric A. Kimmel was born in Brooklyn, NY in 1946. He attended PS 193, Andries Hudde Junior High School, and Midwood High School. Brooklyn College was across the street from his high school, so he didn’t want to go there. He headed west, to Easton, Pennsylvania where he graduated from Lafayette College in 1967 with a bachelor’s degree in English literature.
Eric worked as an elementary school teache...more
More about Eric A. Kimmel...
Eric worked as an elementary school teache...more
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Nov 27, 2010 04:40pm
Nov 28, 2010 07:12am